It has been clear for a while now that Disney+ will launch a new lower-priced subscription tier that will be subsidized by revenue raised through showing ads to its subscribers, which should launch by the end of this year. Interestingly, Netflix has also announced an ad-supported tier that is due this year too. Disney has now released new details surrounding its new lower-priced subscription package, and it doesn’t look that bad.
The Wall Street Journal has published details of the new Disney+ subscription tier, including a cap on the number of ads viewers will see on a per hour basis, and a ban altogether on ads shown to children who are accessing content via their own specially designed children’s profile. According to the report, Disney will be capping ads at a maximum of 4 minutes per hour for adult viewers.
If you look at the competition, Disney is going easy on the ads compared to other broadcasters and streaming platforms. A typical Cable TV broadcast can contain a whopping 20 minutes of ads per hour of content while streaming platform Hulu shows up to 12 minutes of commercials per hour.
Being a family-friendly streaming platform Disney will also be limiting the types of ads that will show up too. There will be no commercials for beer or alcohol on the platform and there will also be no room for political ads. In something more akin to a savvy business move, however, Disney+ will not be showing any ads for other streaming platforms or other media production studios.
It will be interesting now to see if Netflix will be influenced by Disney’s rather progressive approach to ads that both protects children and keeps exposure to annoying commercials to a minimum. The lack of ads is no doubt one of the most popular aspects of streaming platforms so introducing them is going to be a tricky business. With Netflix’s revenue taking a hit and its stock price taking a nosedive, however, the streaming giant might not have much wiggle room. We’ll have to wait and see what happens but, in the end, it might all come down to price. Just how much cheaper will these ad-supported streaming platforms be?
If you are a big streaming fan you should check out this guide we’ve put together to our favorite streaming platforms that allow you to share your account.
